The autumn half term holiday is one of my favourites of the school year. It’s a much needed rest after the busy start to the academic year, the weather is normally good enough for outdoor adventures and in our family we have two birthdays, Halloween and fireworks night in this period too. Although my children only have one week’s holiday, I get two weeks and it’s my time to get prepared, sort out life admin and catch up with friends. Unfortunately this year in my first week, I had my worst migraine for years and was bed ridden for a few days, I missed an 80s party 😟 and we had to delay our trip to Bristol by a day. Although a little shorter than expected we all had wonderful time in the West Country.

1. Old friends

Whilst in Bristol I arranged to meet my old mentor, friend and all round gorgeous person for a catch up. We go back a long, long way (30 years!) as she was originally my French teacher at secondary school, we then kept in touch as I studied French at university and then I returned to my old secondary school as a French teacher in her department. She is one of life’s kindest and shiny people and just a pleasure to be around. I felt uplifted to be in her company and to catch up on all the news about her family, and shared friends and colleagues.

2. Seven Worlds, One Planet

There are not many programmes which can entertain and educate 3 generations at the same time, but the start of Seven Worlds, One Planet by David Attenborough on Sunday had us all transfixed and in awe of the filmography. The series started with Antarctica , cue penguins, sharks and seals. It really focused on climate change and as well as being inspiring there was a strong message to us all of our responsibilities to our planet.

3. Ice Skating ⛸

We moved from Bristol to Weston Super Mare when Mr S returned home for work. The highlight of our stay at my parents was ice skating at the iconic Tropicana. When I was a child the Tropicana was the place to go in WSM, a fun swimming pool with a huge pineapple 🍍 slide that could be easily seen along the prom. It’s had various guises since and is now a pop up ice rink for the winter season. It has been created beautifully and has amazing Christmas models decorating the area and a cafe with a real alpine lodge feel. I imagine it would feel rather magical as a Christmas venue later in the season. The rink is large and sparkly and the children and I all had lots of fun on the ice. We were joined for the day by my cousin who unfortunately was in a cast so unable to skate but a real cheerleader for us all. It’s always lovely to see her, again such a kind and gentle person.

4. Birthday tables.

I do like to celebrate a birthday and as I was at my mum’s the night before hers, I decorated the kitchen ready to surprise her on her birthday morning. I love these balloons, they’re not helium, you just blow up with a straw. Little Miss’ similar balloons from early summer are still inflated and are decorating her room! We went to a lovely, stylish cafe for a birthday breakfast, the children loved their pancake stacks and the avocado on toast was delicious. I think breakfast is an underrated meal to go out for, it was a delightful, relaxed way to start a special day.

5. Halloween

Our Halloween was a quiet celebration this year, we had just returned home so hadn’t done all the prep we normally do and the awful weather meant there were very few people trick or treating. We decorated the house, ( I love my new ghost lights, a bargain buy in a summer sale) did a spooky nature walk, dressed up and did some pumpkin carving on the day. Whilst it felt right this year given our holiday plans, I did miss my spooky baking. What’s a Halloween without a ghost or bat biscuit!

6. More birthday celebrations.

On Friday we organised a family day to celebrate Mr S’ birthday. It is tomorrow but with England in the rugby world cup final, he’ll be cheering them on, so today seemed a better day for us all. As the weather is so poor again, we went to the cinema to see our family favourite Shaun the Sheep in Farmegeddon and then out for a meal. The film was cleverly done and played to both a child and adult audience with lots of nice touches.